[jimmijam]

Help - I need a solution for the music-on-hold on my company's phone system. I just trashed yet another portable CD player...they die because they aren't designed for continuous. The only requirements: continuous play, 1/8" mini output and volume control.

It appears the iPod Shuffle would be the logical choice - it's simple and has no mechanisms that might fail. After loading the music into the player (a 1-time event), I would be permanently connecting it to the phone system. I would use the (aftermarket) transformer that converts AC to USB.

Does anyone have experience (or recommendations) regarding the Shuffle in such an environment? Am I asking too much of the Shuffle to play 24/7? Will the charging circuit fail if permanently connected in this manner? If you don't think this will work, do you have any suggestions?

Champagne tastes on a beer budget!
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jimmijam <southpaw-stratocaster>

[mduell]

Apple doesn't mention anything about usage in the tech specs, so I would guess it will be fine. The battery probably won't fare too well (lithium-ion batteries don't like to be on the charger all the time), but you won't care if the battery can't hold a charge.

[jimmijam]

None of the owner manuals for the (now buried) portable CD players made mention of the MTBF or suitability for continuous duty. That stated, I believe a solid state device is more likely to survive in this environment...no bearings to burn out or heads to crash. I remember a little transistor radio from my childhood that was seemingly indestructable.

I'm still concerned about cooking the batteries though...Apple intended the device to be portable and, thus, experience cycles of charge and discharge. Any thoughts on whether it's possible to remove the battery and still have the Shuffle (or Nano) function properly? Is there a solid state, MP3 player that can play while powered exclusively from an exterior source?
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jimmijam <southpaw-stratocaster>